Traffic noise

Gareth Epps
👍 1

Wed 4 Aug 2021, 21:36

There’s nothing stopping a B road or indeed an A road having a 20mph limit.  Plenty of local examples.

The Speedwatch activity and coincidental TVP sightings certainly make a difference in terms of reducing the numbers of irresponsible drivers.

James Styring
👍 4

Sat 31 Jul 2021, 22:15

To address issues such as speeding, dangerous junctions, lack of amenity in the town centre, and parking and commuter traffic, the Town Council needs to have a clear picture of traffic movements within and through the town, including vehicles parking to access shops. To do this, we’re conducting a traffic survey and we're asking for volunteers to help us.

We’re doing two surveys (term time and not): Tuesday 31 August and Tuesday 14 September, probably 07:00–09:00; 12:00–14:00; and 16:30–18:30.

If you can spare some time either day and fancy helping make Charlbury an even better place, do get involved! It should be quite good fun, and it will make a difference. More info and joining details at https://www.charlbury.info/news/3605. Thank you!

Harriet Baldwin
👍 2

Fri 30 Jul 2021, 20:32

If you drive through Burford regularly as I do, you'll find most traffic ignores the 20mph (possibly because the signs aren't very visible). I've followed police cars through a couple of times and they've been going at 30mph. 

Alan Cobb
👍

Fri 30 Jul 2021, 20:21

I find the worst traffic noise is from loud car radios and revving engines, which are much worse the slower the traffic goes.

As far as 20mph limit on a B road goes, Burford has recently got a 20mph limit on its A road.

Philip Ambrose
👍 6

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 22:04

Rachel makes a very valid point. I was wholly in favour of a 20 mph limit in central Charlbury, but The Slade is wide with footpaths both sides (unlike Pound Hill and the Woodstock Road where there are no footpaths). There is also a risk that by lowering limits overzealously you incite speeding elsewhere as delayed drivers try to make up for lost time. Speed humps are a waste of money as 4x4s and SUVs can treat them with impunity. 

The best scheme I have seen is in Switzerland, where speed sensors turn lights to red if excessive speed is detected. Speeders then incur the wrath of other motorists. Imagine placing detectors on the Slade linked to a red light at the pedestrian crossing.

James Styring
👍 3

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 13:41

Rachel, part of the reason is in the title of the thread. The Slade is both a thoroughfare and a place where people live. Slower speeds make for a quieter and pleasanter neighourhood. The point of many people posting here isn't that cars are doing just under the legal speed limit but in fact exceeding the limit by a large margin, hence their tyres make a lot more noise.

The Slade is fairly easy to cross for most adults. However, if you are elderly, ill, disabled, or attempting to cross the road with children, it isn't easy to cross because cars travelling at 30+ mph approach surprisingly quickly and the width of the road makes it hard to get across in time, even when using the refuges (e.g. the refuge opposite the top end of Crawborough).

Driving at 20mph isn't a hardship but would feel odd, and would be hard to stick to, on such a wide road – which is something the Town Council intends to address in the medium- to long-term.

Rachel Ramsay
👍 5

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 13:31

The Slade is a wide road with numerous safe pedestrian crossing points. You can see plenty far enough to cross safely even at the bits in between these points. Why does it need to be 20mph? Surely 30 is fine. 

Stephen Andrews
👍 4

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 11:21

Just came back from two weeks in the Scottish Borders. An 18 month, 20mph speed limit trial started in August 2020 in 80 towns and villages across the region. The plan is part of efforts to improve road safety and encourage people to walk and cycle and cost £1.2m from the Scottish government's Spaces for People programme. Because it was across the region, drivers knew what to expect and kept to the limits. It felt so much safer cycling.

Hans Eriksson
👍 1

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 10:31

Major parts of London is now 20mph. And all of Paris soon.

Alice Brander
👍 4

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 10:13

You are right Susie Chipping Norton has a 20mph limit on an A road.  Other villages are B roads with 20mph.  Where there’s a will there’s a way apparently.

Susie Finch
(site admin)
👍 2

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 10:07

You can’t do 30mph down Church Lane or Thames Street but the Slade needs to have a 20mph limit.  I have seen many towns and villages doing this now - and don’t it’s because it’s a B road that you can’t - there MUST be a way!

James Styring
👍 1

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 08:59

By coincidence (unless TVP are followers of this Forum), there was a traffic police speed camera van opposite the fire station at 8 a.m. this morning. 

James Styring
👍 6

Thu 29 Jul 2021, 00:10

Jim Holah and the Charlbury Community Speedwatch team are brilliant. Their presence and activities have managed to get average speeds down all around the town. When they started monitoring vehicle speeds, the number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit was 28%. Two years later that figure had fallen to 14%. On the B4022, the percentage of speeding vehicles fell from 27% to 8%. Enforcement with help from Thames Valley Police gave their project teeth. Sadly, since the lockdowns (and partly due to a lack TVP enforcement alongside Community Speedwatch efforts), average speeds have crept up again, I'm not sure if to levels higher or lower than pre-pandemic. Jim can update us with the latest speed stats.

The Town Council hopes in the short term to extend the 20mph limit to cover Dyers Hill, Church Lane, Thames Street and Pound Hill, and to extend the 30mph limit on Spelsbury Road to where the houses end.

In the medium term, we also want to install build-outs into the carriageway at all of the entrances to Charlbury to reduce speeds and indicate to drivers that they are entering a built-up area. As Michele says, these things all cost quite a lot of money, but it's something the town had needed for decades.

So if you're bothered by speeding vehicles and want to do something about it now, contact Jim Holah via the site and get involved!

michele marietta
👍 2

Wed 28 Jul 2021, 23:36

Hans: It's all about the money. Speed cameras cost an absolute fortune. There are threads about speeding from ages ago on the Forum (if you can be bothered to search!) that explain why Charlbury hasn't got speed cameras/chicanes/speed humps, etc. It's pretty interesting stuff.

While not a current active member of the CSW group, it's a great thing to get involved with, and the people who do it are lovely.

Another thing I'm going to do when I win the Euromillions is buy Charlbury some speed humps and some traffic-calming systems.

Hans Eriksson
👍 3

Wed 28 Jul 2021, 22:51

I am very grateful that we have the speed watch team in Charlbury, and long may it continue. I'm no expert in what methods that can be used to reduce speeding, but I have observed two speed cameras on the A44 in Woodstock. There is a speedbump or two when one enters Witney from Hayley, and also a restriction making one car stop. Some say that there are traffic light systems that with one light at one end of the road and another at the other end and a simple timer, the red light comes on regularly stopping those who go faster than the speed limit. I have heard these are common in London? Maybe a combination of technologies could be used. The problem is equally bad on all the approach roads to Charlbury. Something should be done. 

Jim Holah
👍 9

Wed 28 Jul 2021, 21:48

Over the last 4 years a group of residents have been running a Community Speedwatch project, with many sessions on The Slade (not near the Fire Station admittedly) near the school & other locations around the town.  The equipment was provided by the Town Council, who have supported the project very positively, along with District & County Councillors & Thames Valley Police.  I'm surprised you haven't spotted us or the equipment.  We even had it out during lockdown.  There are various ideas for developing the project being discussed with the new Town Council & County Council.  If you're keen to tackle speeding, new volunteers are always welcome, so let me know.

Alex Michaels
👍 2

Wed 28 Jul 2021, 18:02

I walk along by the fire station several times a day and the speed of some drivers  is ridiculous!  The council should put up some speed cameras. The  results of neighbourhood survey a few years ago showed it was speeding & parking that the majority of residents (by far) wanted fixing - 5 years on and the traffic is still whizzing by and nothing is being done.

michele marietta
👍 6

Sun 25 Jul 2021, 12:35

Sam I totally agree that people seem to be driving faster and faster.

I'm not above using 'Diana Ross hands' to let people know they need to slow down.

I also shout 'slow down!', much to the embarrassment of my children.

Gareth Epps
👍 3

Fri 23 Jul 2021, 23:55

Charlbury Speedwatch have monitored this and can provide data that backs this up.  Watch this space.


(But bear in mind that hot weather and open windows heightens our awareness of the idiot with a maladjusted exhaust who likes speeding out of town at 5am, etc)

Sam Small
👍

Fri 23 Jul 2021, 23:47

With the hot weather currently and the need to have windows open, the traffic noise on Sturt Road is really high. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how much faster traffic is moving since COVID started.

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